Harry Connolly's Blog, page 185
June 10, 2010
Brief notes, briefly
My post analyzing THE NIGHT STRANGLER, the second of the Carl Kolchak tv movies and the lead-in to the series, doesn't seem to have posted to my LiveJournal friends list. I wonder if it came up as backdated, which prevents it from appearing on the list. It's on LJ right here. Warning, it's a long post.
Also, the back cover copy for Game of Cages has appeared on Amazon.com. Here it is:
A SECRET HIGH-STAKES AUCTION
As a wealthy few gather to bid on a predator capable of destroying all...
June 9, 2010
The Night Strangler
Finally I can talk about the sequel to The Night Stalker.
As I mentioned in the previous post, the first movie was a hit. It had the highest rating of any TV movie up until that time. A sequel was inevitable.
And it was just as inevitable that it would be good, but inferior to the first. Richard Matheson won an Edgar Award for the script of the first movie and he's back again for the sequel. However, this time around producer Dan Curtis took over the directing job from John Llewellyn...
June 8, 2010
This is not complicated.
I'm going to make one of my obligatory posts about spoilers and spoiler warnings. If you've been here before, skim on by.
It's prompted by this quote by Catherynne M. Valente:
It hamstrings the review to not be able to directly discuss any of the actual events that take place in the movie. How can you engage with the text without acknowledging anything within it? It's infuriating.
Essentially, she puts a spoileriffic review of the movie SPLICE behind a cut because of...
Randomness for 6/8
1) Ever wonder what happened to the Star Wars Kid?
2) Corpse flower blooms in Pasadena.
3) Examining the economic struggles of the publishing industry, graph-style. Part one. Part Two. Part Three. Part Four. Part Five.
4) I guess the PMRC didn't take up all her time. I especially like the glacier and portrait portfolios.
5) Line art and the brain. I'm going to show this to my wife when she gets a quiet moment.
6) Do YOU want to help a legendary high school funk band play a live show when t...
June 5, 2010
My mother-in-law just passed away
She was a good person and I liked her. I'm not going to talk much more about it than that.
There's an awful lot to think about today.
But I really wish I had either child care or health care that wasn't tied to my job.
June 4, 2010
The as-yet untitled third Twenty Palaces book
Over on Livejournal, I have a poll asking people what they think of a few possible titles for the book that I've been calling Man Bites World. Why LJ? Because they make polling easy.
If you have a LJ account (they're free) you can vote for the title you like best. If you don't, you can leave your thoughts in comments anonymously.
All input is appreciated.
Randomness for 6/4
1) When someone says "Don't touch me," you should stop touching them.
2) Mole man's borer misses the Baxter Building by quite a bit. Article.
3) My brother-in-law is curating and art exhibit. If you're in NYC, check it out.
4) Diana Comet Presents…75 Years of Fabulous Writers via Sandra McDonald.
5) How did Ulysses S. Grant become a charicature? A fascinating take on a part of history that was written by the losers.
6) I don't usually link to the Freakonomics blog (those guys sometimes...
June 3, 2010
I just put my wife and son on a bus
They're headed downtown to connect with the Link light rail and then on to the airport. My mother-in-law had a medical emergency today. I'm not going to give details because it's not my place, but my wife threw a bunch of stuff into a rolly backpack, grabbed the kid by the ear and lit off for upstate NY. I'm not sure where things stand, but I hope it all turns out all right.
Me, I'll probably be following on Saturday morning, if the state of emergency is still ongoing. Until then, I'll b...
June 2, 2010
The Night Stalker
This is the telemovie that started it all. When it aired in 1972, THE NIGHT STALKER received the highest ratings of any TV movie up to that point, surprising everyone involved. They knew they'd made a solid movie, but they'd underestimated the appeal of the vampire. The sequel (set in Seattle!) and the single-season TV show all built on that success. Sadly, behind-the-scenes conflict tore the show apart.
But! The first movie is tight, sharp, suspenseful and a helluva lot of fun, mainly...
